Snapshots
by exwaiz
Summary: NakaxKaya Snapshots of Nakatsu and Kayashima as they slowly find their way to each other. Revised version, for those of you who read the original over at my LJ


Title: Snapshots  
Fandom: HanaKimi  
Pairing: NakatsuxKayashima. Mentions SanoxMizuki and NakatsuxKomari  
Themes: 1 (look over here), 4 (our distance and that person) and 26 (if only I could make you mine)  
Summary: Snapshots of Nakatsu and Kayashima as they slowly find their way to each other.

~~*~~

Nakatsu wondered how he ended up with a roommate like Kayashima. Of course, he should consider himself lucky, because he could end up with a roommate like Kujou—even though that (thankfully) wasn't possible because Kujou was a year older—if he did, then he probably wouldn't have lasted living in the dorms this long. Not to mention he probably would have had to endure many sleepless nights.

Kayashima was actually a great friend, even though his habits were unusual. Possessing a sixth sense might seem like a big deal to some people, but Nakatsu didn't really care. The yoga scared him a little, but any ordinary person would freak out if they stepped out of the bathroom only to find out that their roommate had turned himself into a human pretzel. And had offered to teach him the ways of the bendy ones which Nakatsu had replied with a very enthusiastic "hell no," proceeded by a "get the hell away from me," and then running off to the hills.

"Nakatsu?" Mizuki's face appeared suddenly in front of him, startling him out of his wits and causing him to scream loudly.

"M-Mizuki! You scared me!"

"Ah, sorry!" His current crush said, giggling slightly. "Why are you staring at Kayashima like that?" He asked with curiosity.

"Eh? Like what?"

"You've been staring at him for almost half an hour," Sano spoke up, smirking slightly. It was rare for anyone to get a reaction out of Sano, Mizuki being the prime exception to that rule, but since Nakatsu was pretty much his closest friend, he had the privilege of being the butt of Sano's jokes, if he ever made one. (Of course, we should just ignore the fact that Sano also enjoyed teasing Mizuki. Mizuki was, after all, special. Nakatsu was willing to bet that hearts and flowers and butterflies would appear around Sano whenever he thought of Mizuki in private.)

Nakatsu glared at Sano, but then he made sure he was smiling brightly at Mizuki. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something."

"Oh?" For a moment, it looked as if Mizuki was about to ask more questions. Probably questions that Nakatsu had no answers for or even ones he didn't want to answer. But Sano had always been the most perceptive of the three—despite being blind to some of the more obvious things in life, such as Mizuki's affections towards him—so he distracted Mizuki with some candy, hoping no one noticed that his hand was trembling slightly as he handed them to a cheerful Mizuki.

Che. Showoff.

"Nakatsu," Kayashima's voice made Nakatsu jump. While he was busy glaring at Sano, apparently Kayashima had walked up to him and Nakatsu failed to notice it. It wasn't anything new, Nakatsu was willing to bet that Kayashima must have been some sort of ninja in his last life, but it made Mizuki laugh at him and Sano was probably mocking him in that thick head of his.

"Damn it, don't scare me like that!"

"Dinner." Nakatsu perked up immediately at the thought of food.

"Dinner? Yes! I'm starving!"

Kayashima couldn't help but smile at Nakatsu's enthusiasm. As he began walking towards the dining hall after Nakatsu, Sano's eyes caught his. And he didn't need to read Sano's aura to realize that Sano was sympathetic to his current situation. Kayashima sighed and shrugged, smiling all the while.

~~*~~

Nakatsu is a kind person. It was something that Kayashima knew from the moment they met. Not because Kayashima saw how bright his aura was, but in the way he smiled. It was the way his eyes became a deeper, warmer color, in time with the way his lips would curl up.

Others have noticed it too, even when Nakatsu failed to realize it. Komari, Nakatsu's ex-girlfriend, had been one of them. In fact, that was the reason she confessed her feelings to him in the first place.

Kayashima couldn't help but sympathize with the girl. After all, they were on the same boat. Both of them knew about the kindness in Nakatsu and they had both been unwilling victims of that kindness, had fallen for it without even realizing. Unfortunately, Nakatsu was never the brightest crayon in the box, so he tended not to see these things.

Kayashima was slightly jealous of the girl. Kayashima could never reveal the feelings he had for Nakatsu, it would cause an uproar among the students. Not to mention Nakatsu himself would probably refuse to be friends with him ever again. Komari, on the other hand, was blessed by the fact that she was born a girl and therefore did not have to deal with the same problems.

But there were a few things that Kayashima was grateful for. If he were Komari, he wouldn't have been able to be constantly by Nakatsu side. At this point, Kayashima was the only person in the world who knew the real Nakatsu, the one who could break and did broke and didn't want anyone else to see him in that state. Kayashima knew that Nakatsu preferred to smile and pretend everything was okay while he sat and cried soundlessly in a deserted student lounge.

Kayashima remembered that Nakatsu, the one who didn't make a sound when his heart was broken to pieces. The Nakatsu who pulled himself together in one night, just so a friend would not feel bad the next morning. The same Nakatsu who retired to Kayashima's bed that night, because Kayashima wouldn't take "no" for an answer and Nakatsu had no energy to fight him.

Kayashima was jealous of Komari for being able to confess her feelings to Nakatsu. He was jealous of Mizuki for being the one in Nakatsu's heart. Yet he couldn't bring himself to hate those two, because if not for them, Nakatsu would never have considered a relationship with another boy and he would not have been able to fall asleep with an armful of Nakatsu.

~~*~~

The party was getting slightly out of hand. It was the first party after Mizuki's departure. At first the guys were unsure whether or not they could convince Sano to join the party. Then again, they seemed to have forgotten about Nakatsu's sheer determination when it comes to getting something done.

So the party was a complete success. Almost too successful.

Sano was snoring away in a corner, down for the count after drinking half a glass of sake. The others had not been surprised, though some had sighed and muttered about the lightweight that Sano was. Nakatsu, unlike the others, had looked downright harassed after a very drunk Sano had mistaken him for Mizuki and nearly kissed him.

"How are you feeling?"

Nakatsu snorted in disgust. "I'm going to kill him when he wakes up. Or put make up on his face and dress him up in a dress," he said, glaring daggers at his sleeping friend.

"He'll have one bad hangover when he wakes up. He probably would want to kill himself. That should be punishment enough," Kayashima pointed out. Nakatsu snorted at that. Kayashima noted that his roommate looked flushed and his eyes weren't focusing very well. Nakatsu was obviously drunk.

"You should stop drinking or you'll end up like Sano."

"Heh. I'll worry about that tomorrow," Nakatsu said with a grin. Kayashima merely shrugged and looked on as their friends made fools of themselves.

It was at this point that Nakatsu found himself staring at his roommate. He caught himself staring at Kayashima a lot, lately. Mizuki had been the first person to catch him at it. She had asked him if he noticed that he had a habit of staring at Kayashima. Nakatsu began wondering why that was.

And with alcohol singing in his system, whispering "good" ideas that were actually bad, he was beginning to think that he should do something about it.

He must have been staring for a whole ten minutes, contemplating whether or not to do what he was about to do. Finally throwing caution to the wind, he grabbed a hold of Kayashima's shoulder and held him close.

"You're so cute sometimes," He muttered.

Utterly bewildered—trying to figure out what the heck Nakatsu was doing—Kayashima could only blink as Nakatsu began to lean closer.

"You're drunk." Kayashima whispered, no trace of wonder in his voice, though his eyes were wide, not quite believing what was about to happen.

"Maybe," Nakatsu said, shrugging.

"You'll regret this in the morning," Kayashima warned, even as a part of him begged silently for Nakatsu not to regret all this come morning.

"I don't know about that."

"You'll _forget_ about it the next morning." Kayashima added, somewhat desperate now. But Nakatsu found himself shaking his head, mind clear despite the alcohol in his system.

"No way," And he finally closed the miniscule gap and stole Kayashima's first kiss.

~~*~~

Kayashima was reading a book at his desk when he first heard Nakatsu groaning. He closed the book and set it down on the table. He took a moment to collect himself, trying very hard to push memories of what happened last night away.

Nakatsu was drunk. He hadn't known what he was doing. He probably would regret everything he did last night. It would be best for both of them to forget it all ever happened.

Kayashima poured water into a clean glass and rummaged around his drawer for some pain killers. He walked over to Nakatsu's bed carrying both the glass and the capsule.

"You're a lifesaver," Muttered Nakatsu, taking the medicine and then the water. After washing it down with the water, he groaned again, letting his head fall back onto the pillow.

Kayashima placed the glass on his table and turned around to look at the bed, leaning against the table. He schooled his face into his usual blank expression, though he couldn't quite look at Nakatsu when he finally did speak.

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to go and get you something?"

Nakatsu grunted a reply. Kayashima knew from experience that it was a "no" grunt. "I'll go get food anyway. You might get hungry later on," he said, pushing away from the table and headed towards the door.

Nakatsu raised his hand just as Kayashima was about to walk towards the door. "Wait," he said, voice slightly hoarse, yet firm.

"What's wrong," Asked Kayashima, his voice was surprisingly steady even though he was secretly trembling inside. He really wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible.

"Come here for a sec," Nakatsu said, waving him over. Kayashima hesitated for a brief moment, but he didn't sense anything wrong with Nakatsu's request so he decided to comply.

He stopped next to the bed, looking down at Nakatsu. "What is-" Before he could finish his question, Nakatsu quickly grabbed a hold of his wrist. He peeled the washcloth away from his eyes and stared at Kayashima for a moment. The second he took to slowly take in Kayashima's anxious stance was enough to confirm everything, apparently, because he immediately rewarded his roommate with a great big grin.

Kayashima blinked down owlishly at him and then let out a yelp as Nakatsu gave his wrist a strong tug and he tumbled face-first onto the bed.

"Nakatsu, what are you doing?" He struggled to get up but with Nakatsu's arms suddenly around his waist, it was a futile effort.

"Be quiet, will you," Muttered Nakatsu, punctuating the sentence with a kiss to Kayashima's temple. He grinned when the boy in his arms froze suddenly in shock. "I told you I wouldn't forget," he said, cheekily.

Kayashima was quiet for a very long moment and it took him too long to gradually relax.

"Damn it, aren't you the psychic here," Complained Nakatsu, sighing. "I'm serious, OK? And I'm not letting you go either."

What could Kayashima possibly say to that? He didn't utter a word, but he did take Nakatsu's hand in his and squeezed it gently.

END


End file.
